News Desk |
In a recent wave of Indian bitterness morphing into political aggression, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Yasin Malik has been arrested in a crackdown on leaders in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK); Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq informed the press on Saturday, 23rd February 2019.
“Strongly condemn the nocturnal crackdown on Jamat-e-Islami [JI] leadership and cadres, and the arrest of Yasin Malik,” wrote Farooq on Twitter.
Strongly Condemn the nocturnal crackdown on Jamat e Islami leadership and cadres and the arrest of Yasin Malik. Such illegal and coercive measures against Kashmiri’s are futile and will not change realities on ground. Force and intimidation will only worsen the situation.
— Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (@MirwaizKashmir) February 23, 2019
Indian police arrested Malik after they raided his Maisuma residence in Srinagar and lodged him at Kothibagh police station, Kashmiri local media reported.
Ganai had been arrested by police last week on charges of pelting stones at the Indian forces personnel. His family members, however, refuted the police claims that he was involved in the stone pelting.
According to Mehbooba Mufti, the president of the Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party, Hurriyat leaders and workers of the JI have been arrested over the past 24 hours.
The states illegal crackdown on socio religious organisations and leadership and the attempt to strangulate Kashmir media @GreaterKashmir @Kashmir_Reader to pressurise them,reflects the continuation of authoritarian and repressive mindset which has only proved counterproductive.
— Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (@MirwaizKashmir) February 23, 2019
According to the local Kashmiri press on Friday 22nd February, three Kashmiri youth were attacked in the Nangloi area of New Delhi. In a separate incident, a 24-year-old Kashmiri journalist, Jibran Nazir, was assaulted in Pune on Thursday night. As per Nazir, who works with a newspaper in Pune, the assailants told him that they would send him back to Kashmir.
Meanwhile, authorities have booked an “illegally detained youth” under the Public Safety Act (PSA) — that allows detention for up to six months without trial — in Pulwama district, KMS reported.
Read more: Post-Pulwama: Kashmiri spirit and Indian instability, both on rise
A resident of the Chatpora area in the district, Muzamil Ganai, was shifted to Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu after he was booked under the PSA.
Ganai had been arrested by police last week on charges of pelting stones at the Indian forces personnel. His family members, however, refuted the police claims that he was involved in the stone pelting. On Friday, India’s Supreme Court ordered more security for Kashmiris who were facing discrimination and violent backlash after the Pulwama attacks.
The top court told state governments and police chiefs to ensure there are no “attacks, threats or social boycott” over the February 14 bombing in occupied Kashmir — the worst in the territory in 30 years — in which 40 Indian soldiers were killed.
Read more: India maligns Kashmiri struggle with fabricated allegations
More than 700 Kashmiri students, workers, and traders have returned to occupied Kashmir from the rest of India to escape reprisals for the attack, which has also ratcheted up regional tensions after India has alleged that those who planned the attacks had links with the Pakistani state.
Director General ISPR addressed the media on Friday and said that Pakistan wants to offer peaceful resolution but will respond to misadventure with full force.